Kyocera Brigadier to beat the iPhone 6 to a sapphire display

While Apple will likely be credited for making sapphire smartphone displays popular with the iPhone 6 later this year, it certainly isn’t the first cellphone maker to have used these super sturdy screens. In fact, we could just see a sapphire-screened smartphone from Kyocera before the next iPhone makes its debut.

The leaked image above shows the new Kyocera Brigadier, a new handset that’s said to be en route to Verizon.

Kyocera isn’t a name we hear all that often in the smartphone world, mostly because the company’s midrange devices never attempt to take on the big guns from the likes of Samsung and LG, and they aren’t widely available.

But the Brigadier deserves some attention for its sapphire display, which is likely to be significantly stronger and better at defending itself from scratches than existing Gorilla Glass alternatives. The Kyocera video below teases the company’s affordable, “pure sapphire” display, without giving away too many details.

The Brigadier is actually designed to be robust and sturdy all-round. Pocketnow reports that it’s made for use in “harsh environments,” and IP68 certified for dust- and water-resistance. It’s also protected against extreme temperatures and vibrations.

Internally, however, the Brigadier won’t be quite as exciting. It’s expected to offer a 4.5-inch 720p display, a 1.4GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal storage. We could also see an 8-megapixel camera on its back, a 2-megapixel camera on its front, and a microSD card slot.

Pocketnow doesn’t have a price or release date for the Brigadier, but the date on its display is Saturday, July 26, which has already been and gone. Its launch could well be imminent, then, so keep an eye open for announcements from Verizon if you’re interested in this device.